National Museum of Racing announces 2011 Hall of Fame class

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and the fillies Open Mind, Safely Kept and Sky Beauty have been elected to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame. The Class of 2011 will be inducted on Friday, August 12 at 10:30 a.m. at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion. The ceremony is free and open to the public and for the second consecutive year will be televised live on HRTV.

Hollendorfer, Open Mind, Safely Kept and Sky Beauty were elected in the contemporary category by the 183 members of the Hall of Fame’s voting panel. The Hall of Fame’s Historic Review Committee will announce its selections in early June to complete the Class of 2011.

Hollendorfer has been the most successful trainer in Northern California since the mid-1980s. He won the training championship at every major Bay Area meeting from 1986 through 2008, recording 37 straight titles at Bay Meadows and 32 consecutive crowns at Golden Gate Fields. Hollendorfer has also enjoyed considerable success on the Southern California circuit and won a training title at Arlington Park in 2001.

In 2010, Hollendorfer won five Grade 1 races: the Kentucky Oaks, Alabama and Las Virgenes with champion Blind Luck; the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile with Dakota Phone; and the Gamely with Tuscan Evening. Hollendorfer ranked fourth in earnings in 2010 with $9,307,328 and third in wins with 286. He was fifth in earnings in 2009 ($7,309,169) and seventh in 2008 ($8,637,578). He was also third in wins in both 2009 (273) and 2008 (282). Hollendorfer won a career-high 308 races in 2004 to finish third in the trainer standings.

Hollendorfer has ranked in the top 10 in wins for 24 consecutive years (1987 through 2010) and has been in the top 10 in earnings 12 times in his career. Through 2010, Hollendorfer ranked fourth in all-time victories (5,863) and eighth all-time in earnings ($119,141,280) among North American trainers. His major wins include three runnings of the Kentucky Oaks and scores in the Santa Anita Handicap, Delaware Handicap, Fleur de Lis, Hollywood Futurity and Haskell Invitational.

Open Mind (chestnut filly, 1986, by Deputy Minister – Stage Lucky, by Stage Door Johnny), bred in New Jersey by Due Process Stables, won 12 of 19 career starts. Owned by Eugene Klein and trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Open Mind was named Champion 2-Year-Old Filly of 1988 when she won four of six starts, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

At 3, Open Mind won eight of 11 starts, including the New York Filly Triple Crown (the Acorn, Mother Goose and Coaching Club American Oaks), as well as the Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes. Her victory in the Alabama was her 10th consecutive win, seven of which were Grade 1 races. She repeated as her division champion at 3 and concluded her career with nine graded wins among her 11 stakes victories and earnings of $1,844,372.

Safely Kept (bay filly, 1986, by Horatius – Safely Home, by Winning Hit), bred in Maryland by Mr. and Mrs. David Hayden, raced four years, won 24 of 31 starts and accumulated earnings of $2,194,206. Owned by Barry Weisbord and Richard Santulli’s Jayeff B. Stable and trained by Alan Goldberg, Safely Kept won four of her five starts as a 2-year-old in 1988 and then took eight of her nine races at age 3 to earn the Eclipse Award as Champion Sprinter. Among her wins during that campaign were the Grade 1 Test Stakes, the Grade 2 Genuine Risk Handicap and the Grade 2 Prioress Stakes.

At 4, Safely Kept won eight of 10 races with seven of those victories in stakes events. She defeated a star-studded field in the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. That victory, over stars such as Black Tie Affair and Dayjur, also avenged her only loss from the prior year, as she defeated Dancing Spree by 9½ lengths.

Safely Kept concluded her career with five wins in seven starts as a 5-year-old in 1991, including her third victory in the Genuine Risk Handicap, Maryland Million Distaff and Garden State Stakes Handicap.

Sky Beauty (bay filly, 1990, by Blushing Groom – Maplejinsky, by Nijinsky II), bred in Kentucky by Sugar Maple Farm, won 15 of 21 starts and had purse earnings of $1,336,000 in her four-year career. Owned by Georgia Hoffman and trained by Allen Jerkens, Sky Beauty posted a five-race win streak at age 3 in 1993, which included the New York Filly Triple Crown and the Alabama.

At 4, Sky Beauty posted another five-race win streak, including a 10-length romp in the Go for Wand. She also added Grade 1 wins in the Hempstead and the Ruffian. Sky Beauty had a brief campaign at 5, adding her second victory in the Vagrancy. Nine of Sky Beauty’s 15 wins were in Grade 1 races.

Edward L. Bowen is the chairman of the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. The 16-member Nominating Committee considered 80 candidates for the contemporary category before selecting 10 finalists. The four candidates that received the most votes from the 183 voters in the United States and Canada were elected.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is located across from the Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Hours during the Saratoga Race Meet are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Programs at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame are made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency. Call 518-584-0400 for more information.

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